What Is wuauclt.exe

Wuauclt.exe is the process behind the automatic updating performed by Windows Update. Windows uses it to connect to their server to check and see if there is anything new available in terms of helping your operating system run as efficiently as possible. The Microsoft team is constantly viewing ways to make your operating system more secure, additional features that may help your computer to run more quickly and conveniently, and general system updates for the most recent versions of the Microsoft Windows operating systems. Wuauclt.exe only appears in the Task Manager when it requires input from the operating system user to continue.

Windows Update also updates programs such as Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player, fixing bugs to make them more stable and less like to crash as well as increasing their functionality. Updates usually occur on the second Tuesday of every month or when their is a new major security problem or program bug that has become more frequent. When you update programs, the new versions might have left something out in development or created an opportunity for exploitation inadvertently.

From Windows Vista onward, Windows no longer requires users to browse the Microsoft website to select which updates they would like to download and install. The entire process is handled through the Control Panel. Users may also extend the time before the system requires a reboot now instead of being informed to save all of their work and reboot in a specified number of minutes.

You can set Windows to stop automatically updating and simply update whenever you choose through either the control panel or the action center in Windows 7. You can also tell Windows when you would like it to perform checks for updates, whether you want to allow other users to update, and to hide certain updates among other features.

Keep in mind that some viruses, namely troj/cult-b and backdoor.clt sometimes hide themselves by using the wuauclt.exe guise. If the process is not originating from the system32 folder in your hard drive, it may be a virus. Trojans send private information from your computer to other sources and should be dealt with quickly.